Final piece presented in Chatham House

This is how I plan on exhibiting my final piece. There are different layers of my work, which are separated using 10mm thick perspex to create a 3D effect. They will be presented on light-boxes which I made herself. There are three light-boxes all together displaying my work. I also plan to turn the part above the fireplace into a shrine by placing candles on there. Below is a sketch-up and images to show you what my work will look like.

 

Sketch-up of where I want to exhibit (Chapel – Chatham house)

Here on this page is a sketch-up design of where I want to exhibit, I want to present my work in this particular place as its a chapel and links in with the religious side of my work. I also think my images will look good hanging up in each pillar of the back wall. There are three pillars which is excellent because iconography pictures usually come in threes.  I also want to make the fireplace into a shrine with candles. Obviously, for health and safety, they will have to be LED candles.

Below I have added my images to the sketch-up design to show where I want them and how I want the room will look. I think this looks effective and it all seems impressive, I can’t wait to see it will look like when its time to put the show on.

 

Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Art Nouveau (Vienna Secession) movement. Klimt’s ‘Golden Phase’ was a success, and is the main reason I have looked at this artist. When he did these paintings, he utilized gold leaf in his work. This was a technique that icon painters also used in their work when painting in Monasteries. Below are some examples of his work.

Andres Serrano

Andres Serrano has never called himself a photographer. He studied painting and sculpture and sees himself as an artist with a camera. He learned everything he knows about art from Marcel Duchamp. I have looked at this artist as his photos link in with my project with religion. Serrano’s images are amazing they are bright and eye-catching. His pictures are unique and bold. Below are some photos of his work.

Icons

• it was icons of the mother of God with the Christ-child to which the healing of the blind and the lame, the possessed and the feverish was attributed, along with the liberation of the whole regions from epidemics. They were also created with bringing victory over enemy armies and raising sieges.
• Christians began to use symbols to decorate objects: a dove, for example.
• what is an icon? Worldwide, celebrities from the worlds of sport and popular culture are described as such, and the word turns up everywhere in computer-speak.
• the icon as the hallmark of Orthodox piety.
• human nature, to possess pictures of people dear to them.
• the image issue was altogether existential importance for Christian theology.
• Christ, if he is recognized as consubstantial with the other, was the image of God in human form, and that his human nature could thus be depicted in images.
• the images of Christ and the saints may and should be venerated, with kisses, candles, incense, song etc., but they must not be worshipped, for worship is due to god alone.
• the necessity that the imagery of icons is understood everywhere and by all believers, was not without consequences of the form and content of the artistic depiction.
• the likeness between image and prototype as demanded by the church meant that icon-painters were not allowed to paint the sacred persons and biblical scenes freely according to their imaginations, but had to keep to traditional archetypes.
• the icon does not show a detail of the earthly world but points to a supernatural and eternal reality. for this reason, the painters had to avoid anything that could evoke the impression of spatiality, plasticity or a particular time.
• the sacred figures are depicted in representative attitudes, most often in frontal or axial view, in order to create the direct relationship between picture and beholder.
• the usual Russian domestic icon measures 31 x 26 cm.

Early Medieval Art

• Colours were not chosen for such purely aesthetic reasons as “beauty” or “value”, but because they carried significant meanings.
•  The basis of the symbolism was the number four, the old Babylonian number signifying the cosmos. to the four beings, who were regarded as the visible manifestations of God, could be symbolically juxtaposed concepts with a single significance that yet were fourfold.
• Irenaeus for instance, mentioned the four corners of the earth and the four winds, compared the four pillars of the world with the four pillars of the church, and claimed that the four who stood beside God’s throne, in the form of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle, was the embodiment of the Logos (word of god).
• frescoes show miracles performed by Christ and are painted in a large format, in epic style.
• it was not until the Ottonian period, about the same time the St.George frescoes were made, that illuminated manuscripts began to include the stories of miracles and other narrative scenes from the Gospels.
• Fresco painters were travellers who carried out a job and went on their way.
• works in gold were very important in the Ottonian era; they became far more numerous, and most of the important artifacts were glided.
• although gold, glided, gold covered, and gold-framed articles were frequently produced, and although gold had an extensive range of meanings, the importance given to the material seems to stand in inverse relation to the artistic ability and profundity of thought expended in working it.

Light box Ideas

On this page, I have looked at other artists that have used light boxes as a way of displaying their work. I have looked at this as I plan to present my work like this when it is completed.

Unknown Artist

 

 

Marlon Dalto

 

MILLIE WILSON

Miles Aldridge

Born in London in 1964, Miles Aldridge has published his photographs in such influential magazines as Vogue Italia, American Vogue, Numéro, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Paradis. I like the halos he adds in his images, they make the models look important and make the pictures stand out. The use of the vail in his pictures makes the model look religious. Below are some images of his. This artist has inspired me, and what to incorporate some of his work into mine.

The Ten Commandments Movie

Here I have looked at the movie The Ten Commandments, I have looked at this movie due to the lighting they use and the make-up and styling. I really like the lighting in this film, I like how there is a lot of contrast, and the gold in the costumes show through. The makeup is another thing I love it’s simple but still flattering. Below I have added some images and videos from the movie.

Jean-Paul Gaultier

Here I have looked at an artist/fashion designer called Jean-Paul Gaultier. Gaultier is a French designer, best known for his eponymous design house and his seven-year tenure as head designer at Hermès. I found this artist looking through one of his books with all his work in. I have placed images of this book and some of the pages below.

 

As my work on this unit is based around religious iconography I was really drawn to his work he did in Spring-Summer 2007 Couture fashion show. Every model wore a halo in the show start till finish. Their faces were painted like plaster statues, their garb inspired by the vernacular devotional art found in local churches throughout the Catholic world. Below are some pictures from the show. I looked at this work to get ideas on make-up and costume for the shoot I plan to do with a model.

https://www.vogue.com/fashion-shows/spring-2007-couture/jean-paul-gaultier

Collage Workshop

For this workshop, we had to gather images and combine them together making a collage. For this workshop, I used images from my Bulgaria trip. Below is an image of the outcome, overall I’m quite happy with how this has turned out. It looks effective, and the images work really well together.

 

Pierre et Gilles

Pierre et Gilles are two French artists who collaborate on hand-painted photographs. Pierre Commoy, born 1950, and his romantic partner, Gilles Blanchard, born 1953. Pierre is the main man behind the camera and he adds his unique aesthetic adornments that frame each shot. Specializing in portraits of celebrities like Madonna and Boy George, as well as fashion models. The duo creates images that mix reality, daily life, dreams, and fantasies. The two obviously think carefully about their shoot and plan them out thoroughly, the colours they use in their images always clash nicely together. They use bright colours and their images are always busy to draw the viewers in, this is the main thing I like about their work. Below are a few of their images.

The Way of Bizantinum – Vogue.it

This is some research I found on religious iconography. I found this research from Vogue Italia. I liked this work because of it is simple but still effective. I like how they have kept the clothes modern but added in small religious elements to the image. The Images are recalling a historic past; revisited, reinterpreted. From photography to styling. The photographer is Marco D’Amico, Marco Grisolia is the stylist and visionary designer, Romina Toscano is the fashion editor. The styling features layers, dark yet shiny shades, embellished with accessories that recall the iconography. The symbols behind the model bring out the image and clash effectively with the colours of the clothes.

http://www.marcodamico.net/the-way-of-bizantinum-vogue-it

Marco D’Amico, born in 1977, is a fashion photographer and filmmaker. He graduated in Sociology and developed his passion for photography after finishing his studies, becoming a self-taught photographer. In his Personal work, he also has a lot of religious images. I have added the link and some of these images below.

http://www.marcodamico.net/personal

Unit Plan

For this unit, I plan to base this project on religious iconography. I got this idea when I went out to Bulgaria and travelled around and photographed it. while I was out there I visited many different churches and monastery, where most of them were covered head to toe in religious icons and religious stories. Each different part of Bulgaria had different icons they worship. This inspired me and got me thinking about how in today’s society religion isn’t a big deal compared to how it used to be. How in different countries it is more respected than others. For example, in Bulgaria they still worship their icons and are very religious, they have days off where they celebrate their religion with their whole family. whereas in the UK many people don’t believe in religion or it’s not celebrated to the same extend that Bulgarians do. We have Christmas and Easter, but it’s not celebrated anymore the way it used to be by going to church and celebrating the death/birth of Jesus. Its more about chocolate and presents and about who got the best present, and who had the best Christmas dinner, and posting it all on social media.